Interactive Odyssey
The next day Slash woke up prepared. He had gone over every possibility, and it seemed very unlikely that the other side would surrender. Nonetheless, he journeyed through the forest to see if there were white flags
They didn't have to give up. If it came to fighting, they would fight, but they would do their best to stay independent without war.
Slash found the city with no white flags. He had planned ahead every probable outcome, and realized that what made sense was to leave without officially surrendering, only to come back later. So he and some of his men went out to search for the civilians while evryone else stayed occupying the city for if they tried to return.